If there was ever a game that screamed "RENTAL!", OutRun 2 is it. This title's gameplay is so simplistic it makes Daytona look like Gran Turismo by comparison! Having said that, what OutRun2 lacks in depth and substance, it makes up for in exhiliarating - albeit short-term - arcade racing fun. If you haven't played the original OutRun or this sequel, the gameplay can pretty much be summed up in one sentence: Reach checkpoint after checkpoint, and eventually the finish line, before your time expires. No positions or rivals here...the other cars you're "racing" against serve as nothing more than obstacles for you to avoid. Colliding with one or going off the track will cost you precious seconds...and since you're racing against the clock, every lost second counts. Unfortunately, the arcade version of Outrun2 is so easy that you'll see everything it has to offer within a couple of hours. Although the 15 tracks here are visually stunning (in a slightly cartoony way), they're so damn short (a minute or so each) that getting through them all doesn't take a whole lot of effort. I can't help but wonder why Sega couldn't have gone the extra mile and maybe added a number of extra tracks and lengthened the traditional OutRun races from their standard five tracks to six or seven. Or at least lengthened each track by 20 or 30 seconds! With a full race lasting only about five minutes and the other cars showing no AI to speak of, even novice gamers will blow through the "hardest" portions of the arcade game in no time at all. And forget anything resembling damage modelling or realistic physics...this is as arcade as it gets. Fortunately, Sega knew better than to develop OutRun2 with no extras, and it's here that the real meat of this title can be found. Suffice it to say, however, that the difficulty pendulum swings WAAAAAY over to the other side with some of these modes. Although the Challenge Mode comprises 101 different challenges to complete, most gamers won't get through half of them before heaving at least one controller through a window. And that's what truly hurts this title from a longevity standpoint. The most innovative gameplay OutRun 2 has to offer can be found in the Challenge Mode objectives, but they become so difficult so quickly that only the most hardened of gamers will even bother after the first thirty missions or so. Heart-attack mode, where you earn hearts from your honey for performing various tasks, and the standard time-trial mode round out the extras. The verdict: this is the dumb blonde of racing games. Nice to look at, fun for a little while, but not much reason to come back once you've seen it all. A perfect rental. Graphics: + Lots of varied terrain and easy on the eyes. - They're a little on the cartoony side. Sound: + The tunes (and remixes) from the original OutRun really adds to the retro feel of the game. - Although everything sounds good enough, nothing else really stands out. Difficulty: Flat-out uneven. Incredibly easy in arcade mode, mind numbingly difficult in challenge mode.
The original Outrun game was one I devoted many hours to. I was young when I played the game; arguably, it's a game that launched me into this fickle world of warring companies and sophisticated graphical effects. Imagin... Read Full Review
OutRun 2 is a totally fun racing game but with annoying challenges at times. Every car you have is from Ferrari. Enzo Ferrari, 360 Spyder, those cars. Cool music, good graphics, good drift control, but you need to press ... Read Full Review
